Paper feeding device



June 3, 1941. a JOHNSON 2,244,250

PAPER FEEDING DEVICE Filed Dec. 23, 1939 Patented June 3, 1941 UNITED STATE PAPER FEEDING DEVICE Reynold B. Johnson, Binghamton, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 23, 1939, Serial No. 310,750

5 Claims.

This invention relates generally to improved devices for feeding record sheets and more particularly to mechanisms for handling record cards, such as are used in tabulating systems. In machines of this class it is customary to feed the records one by one from a stack in a magazine, and the principal object of the present invention is to provide improved devices for feeding such records.

In the record controlled accounting machine art, it is common practice to feed records out of the magazine by means of reciprocating pickers which are operated under the stack of records. These pickers are formed with a short blade or shoulder that extends upward far enough to engage the edge of one card but falls short of engaging a second card. The pickers are operated in synchronism with the other parts of the ma-.

chine, and the card engaged by the pickers is pushed before them through the throat of the magazine and then between feeding and sensing rollers. The pickers work satisfactorily when cooperating with records of substantial thickness and records which are perfect in shape. However, when thin records or records which have been bent or warped are encountered, they tend to buckle when pushed at one edge and then ride over the picker blade to stall the feeding operation.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide feeding devices that engage each record at a series of points evenly distributed over the area of the record. A feature of the invention is the provision of means for feeding the records frictionally without engaging the edges thereof and thus avoids bending or tearing the edges of the record.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of feeding devices of a universal nature for cooperating with sheets or cards of various thicknesses making it possible to feed thin flexible sheets as well as cards that are thicker and comparatively rigid.

A further 'object'of the invention i the provision of reciprocating feed shuttles containing friction rockers which oscillate to bring friction surfaces and polished surfaces alternately into cooperation with the records, in order to feed a record when the shuttles are moved in one direction and then slide idly under the next record toward normal position when moved in the other direction.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the magazine showing a pair of feeding shuttles with a, plurality of sheet engaging rockers.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation view taken along line 22 of Fig. 1, showing a shuttle operated in the feeding direction.

Fig. 3 is another sectional elevation view showing the side of one of the shuttles as it appears when being retracted.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing one of the rockers in position to feed a record sheet.

Fig. 5 is another detail sectional view showing the rocker asit is positioned when being retracted.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing one of the feeding rockers assembled inside a shuttle and rockable therein on V shaped pivot points.

The magazine is formed with a base plate 20 and side guides 2| and 22. Other vertical guides are provided in the form of a pair of rear card guides 25 and 28 and front extension 23 carrying an adjustable vertical throat member 25. The dotted outline 2'! illustrates how a stack of record cards 28 is confined within the walls of the magazine. In Fig. 2 is is seen that a weight or plate 29 is placed on the top of the stack of records so that the last few records are urged into cooperation with the feeding devices which operate underneath the stack of records. The base plate 20 is cut out to provide two channels, in which pairs of shoulders 30 (Figs. 3 and 6) Support sliding shuttle members 3|. These elongated shuttle members have a cross-section in the form of a U, each side wall of which has an extending slide rib 32 (Fig. 3) proportioned to fit onto the shoulder or ledge 30 cut into the base plate. Along the upper edges of each shuttle are cut a series of V-shaped notches 33 arranged in five pairs with the related notches of a pair being directly opposite each other in the two sides of the shuttle.

centric stud 36. Pivoted on this stud is one end of a link 31, the other end of which is articulated at 38 on one of a pair of arms 39, both of which are connected to an oscillating shaft 40 carried by fixed bearings in the machine. The upper ends of arms 39 are notched to engage wrist pins 4! pivoted near the front ends of the shuttle members 3|. The bottom of each shuttle is formed with an opening 15 through which the arm 35 projects to engage pin 4|. Upon each cycle of operation of the gears 34, 35, the eccentric 36 makes a complete revolution and in so doing rocks the arms 33 so that the shuttle members are reciprocated, being moved first toward the left (Fig, 2) and then back again toward the right (Fig, 3) into normal position. As shown in Fig. 2, the parts are in a partially operated condition.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the shuttle slides ii are formed with a series of notches 33 indented along the upper edges of the vertical walls of the shuttles. Although five pairs of such notches are cut into each shuttle, only one or more of said pairs may be used by placing therein a rocker 42. The number of rockers used and assembled on the shuttle depends upon the shape and thickness of the sheets which are to be fed thereby. As shown, the two shuttles are each provided with three rockers 42 for engaging the record at six points distributed in an effective manner over the area of the record.

Each rocker is constructed as shown in detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. There it is seen that the body of the rocker 42 is in the form of a short bar of semi-circular cross-section. Extending from the two ends of the rocker are a pair of V-shaped fulcrum points 43. The small ends of the points 43 are located along the axis of the rocker 42 The angular shape of the point 43 is of a. width approximately half the angle of the notch 33 in which the point is assembled, so that the rocker is free to oscillate therein through an angle of about 30 when moved back and forth by the shuttle. The points 43 are tapered outwardly, so that the extreme ends of the points lie beneath pairs of retaining strips 44 (Figs. 1 and 6) which are secured to a base 20 by means of screws. These retaining strips 44 (Fig. 6) are formed with a beveled edge 45 which serves two purposes, the edge not only forms the upper part of a way, in which slides the extending rib 32 of the shuttle 3|, but it also overlies the tips of the oscillating points 43 to hold the rockers assembled on the feeding devices. Since a similar construction is provided on the opposite sides of the shuttle, both sides of the rockers and shuttles are retained in place but they are free to oscillate and reciprocate.

Secured to each of the rockers 42 is a block of rubber 46, or any other kind of friction ma.- terial, held thereon by means of a pair of screws 41 which pass through a washer 48, through the friction block and into threaded portions of the rocker 42. This block 46 extends a short distance above the curved periphery of the upper part of the shuttle 42, so that when positioned as shown in Fig. 4 it engages the lower surface of a record 28.

When the shuttle is moved toward the left in the feeding direction, the rockers are turned clockwise (from the position of Fig. 5) so that the fulcrum points 43 abut against the rear side of the V notches 33 in the shuttle as shown in Fig. 6. When in such a position, it is seen in Fig. 4 that there is a positive drive between the shuttle and the rubber block 46 which then engages the lower surface of the record 28 and maintains a frictional relationship with it and thereby slides the record off the bottom of the stack and over toward the left (Fig. 2) into engagement with a pair of feeding rollers 43 which are constantly rotating. The rollers then carry the record along under a row of sensing brushes 50.

The rockers maintain the feeding position shown in Fig. 4 as long as the shuttles are moved toward the left in the feeding direction. However, as soon as the direction of movement of the shuttles is reversed by theretum operation of the eccentric 36, the frictional blocks 46 of the rockers become disengaged from the lower side of the record and, as the shuttles 3| are moved toward the right, the rockers assume the position illustrated in Fig. 5. There it is seen that retraction of the shuttles has caused the friction block 46 to rock relative to the lower part of the record 28 during the initial portion of the return stroke of the shuttle. While doing so, the rocker is turned counterclockwise to bring the fulcrum points 43 against the left side of the V-notch 33 in the wall of the shuttle. When the fulcrum points 43 assume this position, the friction material 46 is removed from direct contact with the lower part of the record and instead the smooth metallic surface of the rocker slides along the lower part of the record as the shuttle is retracted. Therefore, there is hardly any tendency to push the lower record towards the rear of the magazine, instead the shuttles move toward the normal position without retarding the record passing out of the magazine and without disturbing the next record which is about to be engaged.

After reaching the position at the extreme right, it is necessary that the shuttles move a slight amount toward the left before the rockers are tilted back from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 4, wherein they are again frictionally engaged and ready for feeding operation. The extent of this engaging movement is approximately equivalent to the amount of lost motion which must be provided when a picker knife is used for operating the card feed.

When the shuttles are being retracted, a corner of the friction block 46 (Fig. 5) remains in contact with the lower surface of the record but, since this is practically a line contact, it does not exert any substantial tendency to dislodge the record. However, the amount of contact maintained by this point of the block helps to turn the rocker back into the feeding position when the motion of the shuttle is reversed. Moreover, after the corner of the block is worn off. the friction between the periphery of the rocker and the lower surface of a record is suflicient to turn the rocker into feeding position.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the inven tion. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet feeding device, a magazine frame holding a stack of sheets, a sliding member in said frame, means for operating said member, a series of feeding devices assembled on said sliding memher to engage said sheets, fulcrum points on said I feeding devices engaging said sliding member to oscillate thereon, and retaining means common to said oscillating points and said sliding member for retaining them both on said magazine frame during operation.

2. In a sheet feeding device, a magazine frame holding a stack of sheets, a shuttle slidably mounted on said frame beneath said sheets, means for reciprocating said shuttle, said shuttle being formed with a U-shaped cross-section and having a series of aligned pairs of V-shaped notches along the upper edges, a series of rockers of semicylindrical form each having a pair of V-shaped fulcrum points mounted within a pair of said V-shaped notches and proportioned to oscillate therein, friction material attached to said rockers and extending beyond the periphery thereof, whereby the friction material engages a sheet to feed it out of the stack when the shuttle is moved in one direction and then the rockers turn so that the curved periphery of the rockers slide over the sheets when the shuttle is moved in the other direction.

3. In a record feeding device for feeding records successively, a magazine for holding the stack of such records, an adjustable throat in said magazine through which the records are fed singly, a

plurality of sliding shuttles under said stack in said magazines, means for reciprocating said shuttles, a plurality of feeding rockers in each of said shuttles, each of said rockers having a curved periphery, a portion of which is polished and another portion of which is of a frictional nature for engagement with the records, means for pivoting said rockers in said shuttles and limiting the oscillating movement of the rockers therein, whereby the frictional portions and the polished portions of the rockers are brought into contact with the lowermost records alternately as the shuttles are moved in one direction to feed a record out of the magazine and then retracted in the opposite direction to move into position to feed the next record.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein said shuttles are U-shaped in cross-section and formed with pairs of V-shaped notches along the top edges, and said rockers are of a semi-circular cross-section with pairs of extending V-shaped fulcrum points that fit loosely in said pairs of V-shaped notches for rocking movement therein, whereby said rockers may alternately assume a position for frictional engagement with a record for feeding it out of the magazine.

5. In a sheet feeding device, a magazine frame holding a stack of sheets, said frame being formed with a channel and a pair of shoulders on the sides of said channel, a shuttle formed with extending side ribs which rest on said shoulders to be supported for sliding movement in the magazine frame, means for moving said shuttle, sheet feeding means assembled on said shuttle to engage said sheets and feed them out of the magazine, and a pair of retaining strips fastened to said frame and overlying said ribs and said feeding means to retain the feeding means on the shuttle and to retain the shuttle on the magazine frame.

REYNOLD B. JOHNSON. 

